Patiala: With the signing of the Shahpur Kandi revival project not only will the country save extra water of Ravi River flowing into Pakistan, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and the state irrigation department are set to save Rs 852 crore annually.According to information, besides generating 831.65 million units of hydroelectricity worth Rs 415 crore, the revival of the Shahpur Kandi project would also provide peaking benefit to Ranjit Sagar Dam (RSD) of Rs 59 crore and will also enable the Bhakra Beas Management Project (BBMB) to generate additional power of 350 MUs at Upper Bari Doab Canal (UBDC) powerhouses worth Rs 144.00 crore. The project would also offer irrigation benefits worth Rs 234.72 crore.The agreement was signed between the chief secretaries of Punjab and J&K and Indian Commissioner of Indus Waters of the Union government, in the presence of J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik and minister for water resources Gurbinder Singh Sukh Sarkaria. The project is to be completed within three years.The work on the interstate project, which was approved by the Union government as a ‘national project’ in February 2008 at a cost of Rs 2,285.81 crore (including the irrigation component of Rs 653.97 crores) was started in 2013. However, it was halted in 2014 after the J&K government raised certain objections. In the meantime, the cost of the project escalated to Rs 2,793.54 crore.Punjab minister for power, Gurpreet Singh Kangar said the matter was pursued by chief minister Amarinder Singh for several months, who sought personal intervention of Union minister for water resources, river development and Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari for an early decision.He said the power plant at Shahpur Kandi would provide a balancing reservoir to enable the up-stream RSD power station to act as a peaking station. Besides, it will also have its own generation capacity of 206 MW and will provide irrigation benefit of 37,173-hectare of cultivable command area to the two states. It will enable the country to fully utilize the Ravi water as per the Indus Water Treaty by preventing the extra flow waters into Pakistan. At present, the installed capacity of Ranjit Sagar Dam is 600 MW (4X150 MW), but only 300 MW is generated as UBDC canal system cannot handle additional flow during increased generation at RSD.The new reservoir will have a storage capacity of 12,071 hectare meter and enable the BBMB to operate the RSD hydro stations to the full capacity without letting the water flow into Pakistan.Also, the UBDC power project with the installed capacity of 91.35 MW, that having generated 348 Million Units (MU) annually in last three years, would be able to generate 696 MUs each year without any additional cost.· Punjab will get 1,182 MUs additional power, including 834 MUs of hydroelectricity from Shahpur Kandi Power Plant and 348 MUs additional generation from UBDC powerhouses· Power generated at RSD during peak hours to the tune of 350 MUs would be available to shore up the finances of PSPCL· The project will also mitigate environmental pollution by adding green power from renewable source· It would also help PSPCL maintain grid stability in case of forced shut down of thermal units as hydro units can be quickly started and operated till restoration of the tripped units

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